Frank Perry
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. | education = | alma_mater = The Actors Studio University of Miami | occupation = Director, filmmaker | years_active = 1955–1992 | employer = Westport Country Playhouse | influences = | influenced = | home_town = | spouse = | relatives = Katy Perry (niece) }} Frank Joseph Perry Jr. (August 21, 1930 – August 29, 1995) was an American stage director and filmmaker. The 1962 independent film David and Lisa was nominated for two Academy Awards for best director (Frank Perry) and best screenplay (written by his then-wife, Eleanor Perry). The couple would go on to collaborate on five more films including the cult classic The Swimmer starring Burt Lancaster, Diary of a Mad Housewife starring Carrie Snodgress, and the Emmy Award–nominated A Christmas Memory, which was based on a short story by Truman Capote and also adapted by his wife Eleanor. Perry went on to form Corsair Pictures, which was privately financed by United Artists Theatres, producing two film flops, Miss Firecracker and A Shock to the System, before folding.Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, "Frank Perry to head new film company" by Charles Fleming, March 15, 1988''Variety'', "Lost & Found: Name: Frank Perry Description: Film Director Last Seen: On the ski lift", January 4, 1993 His later films include the Razzie Award–nominee Joan Crawford bio drama Mommie Dearest and the documentary On the Bridge, about his battle with prostate cancer. Author Justin Bozung, who has been researching the filmmaker's life since 2013, is currently writing the official biography of Frank Perry titled Character Is Story: The Life & Films of Frank Perry. The book is due out in 2020. Life Frank Joseph Perry Jr. was born in New York City, to stockbroker Frank Joseph Perry Sr. and Pauline E. Schwab, who worked at Alcoholics Anonymous. As a teenager, Frank Jr. began pursuing his interest in the theater with a job as a parking lot attendant for the Westport Country Playhouse in nearby Westport, Connecticut. He attended the University of Miami. Frank also studied under Lee Strasberg in New York. He produced several plays at Westport Country Playhouse and then turned for a time to producing television documentaries. Career A veteran of the Korean War, he returned to the entertainment industry after being discharged and made his directorial debut in 1962 with the low-budget drama film David and Lisa. Based on the novel by Theodore Isaac Rubin, the screenplay was written by his wife, Eleanor Rosenfeld, who received a nomination for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. A character study of two emotionally disturbed teenagers, the film was successful at the box office and met with much critical acclaim, earning him a nomination for an Academy Award for Directing. Both Perrys would eventually join the select group of non-actors awarded membership in Actors Studio. Perry went on to direct and produce a number of films, many based on literary sources or with strong literary associations, including The Swimmer (1968) based on a John Cheever story, Last Summer (1969), and Trilogy (1969), written by Truman Capote. Perry is known for his character studies involving a dysfunctional family, such as that in his wife's script of the Sue Kaufman novel Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970). That film earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Carrie Snodgress, and Play It As It Lays (1972), starring Tuesday Weld, brought her a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination. Both of these films Perry produced and directed, though he is probably best remembered for directing the notorious 1981 low-budget biographical drama Mommie Dearest, an adaptation of a biography by actress Joan Crawford's adoptive daughter, which portrayed the famous movie star as a crazed, sadistic control freak and fraud who cared more about money and fame than family. The film became a cult classic despite mixed reviews from critics; it also won the Razzie Award for worst picture and Frank Perry was nominated for worst director, while actress Faye Dunaway received the Razzie booby prize for her performance. Some of Perry's film-related material and personal papers are held at the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, a collection to which scholars and media experts from around the world today have full access. Personal life and death In 1958, Frank married his first wife Eleanor, who was 15 years his senior. Perry and Eleanor collaborated on many screen projects, including screenwriting the Academy Award-nominated 1962 David and Lisa. They divorced in 1971 on grounds of incompatibility. In 1979, Eleanor Perry wrote the novel Blue Pages, based on their relationship. She died of cancer two years later, at age 66. In 1977, Perry married his second wife, Barbara Goldsmith, founding editor of New York magazine and book author (Little Gloria … Happy at Last), whom he divorced in 1992. Soon after, he married his Aspen ski instructor, 22-years-younger Virginia Brush Ford, on June 15, 1992. His sister is pastor Mary Christine Perry, the wife of pastor Maurice Keith Hudson and mother of singers Katy Perry and David Hudson.* * Perry died of prostate cancer on August 29, 1995, eight days after his 65th birthday, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. His final film, 1992's On the Bridge, is an autobiographical documentary dealing with the illness. His ashes were scattered on the mountains of Aspen, Colorado, where he lived the last three years of his life. Filmography Movies Television References Further reading *Jim Beaver. "Frank Perry", Films in Review, November 1981. *Bilge Ebiri. "Domestic Disturbances. The unsung cinema of Frank and Eleanor Perry" August 25, 2008 *Matthew Mandarano. "Along the Bridge: The Films of Frank Perry" External links * * *Official Frank Perry Biography Facebook page Category:1930 births Category:1995 deaths Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Portuguese descent Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Category:Deaths from prostate cancer Category:Film directors from New York City Category:University of Miami alumni